Myth-busting aplenty last week with the launch of a new Student Accommodation Council report.
International students support our vital university sector, fill skills gaps in our cities, enhance our global connectivity and make Australia an education hot spot.
In response to the rental crisis being blamed on international students, Student Accommodation Executive Director Torie Brown put it best over the weekend:
“No one is calling on local university students to move out of the share house and back in with mum and dad, any more than we are telling singletons to pair up and move out of their bachelor pads”.
Non-students are 89.8 per cent of the rental market.
Domestic Australian students are just over six per cent.
International students turn out to be only four per cent of the market.
Many of these students live in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).
PBSA provides a student-oriented community and frees up supply in the private market.
International students are a vulnerable group in the rental market. The more PBSA we have in Australian cities, the easier it is for international students to secure a safe place to live before they leave their home countries.
Sadly, the supply of PBSA is set to fall well short of demand.
We now need governments to work with the sector to encourage investment in professionally managed, custom built and safe student accommodation to the ultimate benefit of all Australians.
WA leadership
On Monday, we announced Nicola Brischetto as our new WA Executive Director.
Nicola has an impressive leadership career spanning government, consulting, teaching and communications. Nicola will continue the Division’s strong advocacy on behalf of members, with support from our talented WA team.
As WA Division President Richard Kilbane said: “I know Nicola will be a strong and effective voice for our members, and I look forward to her building on the great successes of the WA team in recent years”. Nicola joins us on Monday 27 May.
My personal thanks to our tremendous Deputy Executive Director Emily Young for her passionate and skilled leadership and advocacy since December.
Girls in Property
Our wonderful Girls in Property program returns to its first home today – Sydney.
Since 2017, the program has been rolled out nationally involving over 1,500 students.
This terrific initiative helps to educate high schoolers nationwide about opportunities in the property sector.
We are aiming to broaden the talent pool in a historically male-dominated industry (74 per cent of the 1.48 million people in property are men.)
Following recent successful events in Geelong and the ACT, the program spans two days in Sydney, with upcoming sessions in Illawarra and Hunter. Programs in SA and WA are scheduled for June.